Fellowship on the Tundra

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

by Lincoln Park Zoo

in

Conservation Field Diaries

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It turns out getting to Churchill, Manitoba, is a remarkably challenging process. You literally cannot drive here, so your two options are to take the train or fly. The train sounds picturesque, and I’m sure it is, but it will take you 52 hours to make the trip!

Me, standing on the shore of the Hudson Bay. Where I’m standing I’m in the province of Manitoba. Were I to wade into the water I’d be standing in the Territory of Nunavut.

Air travel isn’t without its challenges either. Bad weather conditions in Churchill delayed our flight significantly, and once the weather in Churchill cleared we had to wait for weather in our backup location to clear as well. Essentially, if you’re going to trek all the way to the sub-arctic, you have to cover all your bases.

But being stranded in an airport makes quick friends of a bunch of zoo people. I am so lucky to be surrounded this week by colleagues from several zoos and aquariums around the country as well as Canada, Denmark and Austria. After a morning of sharing coffee, donut holes and stories in the airport, we finally headed up north.

The white blob in the distance is a polar bear. With binoculars, you can’t miss it. With my camera, well…

Our first day in Churchill was great. We had eight polar bear sightings out on the tundra, including a mother and her two cubs, all nestled together in a heap! At one point the noise from our Tundra Buggy (a giant bus-like contraption with huge wheels to drive over the rough terrain) caused them all to perk up and look in our direction—truly a magical moment. The bears we saw today were all too far away for the lens on my camera, but I promise my next post will be all about the experience of sighting bears—hopefully with some adorable shots to prove it.

Cameras and binoculars are at the ready out on the tundra.

For now, I can’t help but reflect on the sense of fellowship we have here as a community of zoos working together towards a common goal. Tonight we all discussed techniques for talking about climate change with our audiences. More and more research is being done on how people absorb scientific news and which educational strategies inspire people to take conservation action.

Polar Bears International is a great resource to us educators, because they can help us collect and absorb that information with scientific data that their own scientists produce. Essentially, working with PBI gives educators communication tools and scientific background—two sides of a coin we can use to pursue climate change awareness, advocacy and action. Tomorrow we’ll break into small groups to discuss programming plans we’ll enact once we return home.

The view from my room these first couple of nights. We are at latitude 58 degrees north. The Arctic Circle is latitude 66 degrees north, so it’s chilly but manageable—and gorgeous!

Most of the people I encounter at Lincoln Park Zoo will never see a polar bear in the wild. But they’ll be able to visit one—or possibly a breeding pair—in Chicago in 2016 when the zoo debuts a state-of-the-art, naturalistic habitat. Our job as educators is to take that viewing experience and, through interpretation, signage and programming, help our visitors build a sense of connection with and stewardship for that bear’s wild cousins. It’s an ambitious goal but one we’re all so proud to work on.

Your visit to your local zoo isn’t just about that one bear or an enlightening educator though. It’s part of a bigger story of one big zoo family working to save our one world. That’s a mission I think we can all get behind.

Polar Bear Day Q&A
We celebrate International Polar Bear Day with a special Q&A with Keeper Anthony Nielsen. He's traveled to the Arctic to assist climate research and works with fellow caregivers to raise awareness about the conservation impact of climate change.